Rebeka "Rebii" Simon (born 6 July 1996) is a British-Hungarian sprint canoer who competed in the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Early life

Simon was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

and moved to

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at an early age. Discovering kayaking at the age of six, Simon was training six days a week by the age of 10. She won her first national championship later that year, and by 13 was often training twice a day while attending Rydens Enterprise School.

Career

In 2009, Simon represented

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

for the first time at an international competition aged 13. Competing in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, she went on to make the finals and won medals in the Under-18 events. She claimed silver in the K-2 1,000 m at the Junior World Championships in 2011. Simon competed in the Junior European Championships in both 2012 and 2013, becoming the European Champion in the 1,000 m sprint in the latter year. She also recorded a personal best in the 500 m sprint that year while placing fifth. In 2014, Simon won silver in the K-1 500 m sprint at the Junior World Championships in

Szeged Szeged ( , ; see also #Etymology, other alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat ...

. Shortly after, she was selected to represent Team GB at the Senior World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

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in the K-1 1000 m sprint. She finished in fifth, just four seconds behind winner

Teneale Hatton Teneale Hatton (born 13 January 1990 in Queenstown, Otago) is a New Zealand flatwater canoer. Hatton has two older brothers and moved from her hometown, Queenstown, to Auckland at the age of five. She attended Carmel College and as of 2012 ...

. In September 2014, Simon was named on the shortlist for the

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding con ...

. The award was won by artistic gymnast

Claudia Fragapane Claudia Fragapane (born 24 October 1997) is a British artistic gymnast. She came to prominence at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where she was the first English woman to win four gold medals in a single Games since 1930. In 2015, Fragapane was ...

. Simon competed in the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

British Canoeing profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Rebeka 1988 births English female canoeists Living people Sportspeople from Budapest People from Walton-on-Thames Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Great Britain British female canoeists English people of Hungarian descent